


Reassurance

by celtic7irish



Series: MCU Kink Bingo Fills 2017 [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cuddle Pile, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Tony Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 18:21:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13793475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: Following a hard battle, the Avengers rest, and make sure one of their own is okay.





	Reassurance

**Author's Note:**

> For the MCU Kink Bingo Square N4:: Avengers Cuddle Pile!

Steve shuffled into the common room sluggishly, his feet dragging along the carpet.  He should get a shower, but really, all he wanted to do right now was sleep.  Still, the need to check on his teammates after the battle was persistent, and they’d all show up here eventually.

 

“Hey, Stevie,” Bucky muttered from his sprawl on the floor, his flesh arm thrown over his eyes and his metal one limp on the floor.  It had taken a severe beating, and Steve was sure that Tony would get right on fixing it. In the morning.  For now, the genius was probably so sleep-deprived that he’d end up blowing the lab sky high if he tried to tinker with anything.

 

“Mmph,” Steve replied, dropping down next to his friend, one arm flung over Bucky’s waist.  “Wake me when I’m dead,” he managed to mutter.  Bucky hummed in agreement, but otherwise didn’t move.

 

The sound of shuffling feet paused in the doorway, and Steve felt someone observing him and Bucky.  “Oh, excellent.  Heat,” Tony mumbled, staggering forward.  A moment later, he was dropping down, directly on top of Steve’s back.  Steve squeaked, his spine going tense as Tony’s freezing fingers tucked themselves against his back.  Tony’s sigh of relief almost drowned out Bucky’s chuckle. Almost.

 

“Got some for you, too, Freezer Burn,” Tony told him blithely, then shifted.  This time, Bucky made a pained sound, and Steve realized that Tony was now at an angle across the both of them, his hands still pressed to Steve’s back, and his feet off to the side - on top of Bucky.

 

“What the hell, Stark,” Bucky whined, though he made no moves to push the other man off.

 

“Yeah, turns out the ocean is pretty fucking cold this time of year,” Tony said almost conversationally, but Steve could hear the faint tremor in his voice, even as Tony’s teeth chattered.  He slumped further against the floor, feeling guilty that he hadn’t been fast enough to stop the….acid, or whatever the hell it had been, from eating through Iron Man’s armor before a giant tentacle had slammed him into the water.  Tony had been quick enough to call another suit to him - and War Machine had kept the giant kraken-snake hybrid occupied by shooting it in the eyes - and had managed to pull himself back out of the water within a few seconds, but it had been terrifying there for a few minutes.

 

“Ah, friend Anthony!” Thor greeted as he strode into the room, his exuberance almost painful to the men collapsed on the floor.  How was it possible for the Asgardian to still have so much energy?!  He had practically toasted the thing from the inside out with a huge bolt of lightning.  The smell had been sickening.  “It is good to see that you are well enough to have joined our Shield Brothers in their rest.  Is there room for one more, perchance?”

 

“Knock it off with the perchances, and take a load off,” Tony told him, one hand sliding out to beckon at Thor before burrowing back to its spot between Tony’s chest and Steve’s spine.  

 

“Thank you, my friends,” Thor exclaimed before settling himself nearby.  He still smelled of storms and electricity.  Steve could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise, electricity tingling across his scalp and shoulders.

 

“Dammit, Thor,” Bucky complained.  “Why the fuck do you still have so much energy?”

 

Thor’s laughter rumbled through his chest as he settled on the floor by Steve.  Tony promptly rolled over and dropped his head on Thor’s lap.  “I find battle invigorating!” he exclaimed.  “Do you not feel the same?”

 

Tony whined.  “No, I don’t feel the same,” he grumbled.  “Flying is invigorating. Inventing a new element is invigorating.  Battling a giant demon squid-hydra hybrid _is not fucking invigorating_!”  Thor laughed again, joined by Steve while Bucky just mumbled his agreement.

 

“Is that what we’re calling it?” Sam asked, strolling casually into the room and eyeing the small pile of Avengers on the floor.  “Giant demon squid-hydra hybrid?”

 

“I’d flip you off, but that would require actual effort,” Tony muttered.  “You can call it whatever you want, I don’t care.”

 

Sam grinned, wandering into the kitchen and rummaging around in the fridge for a few minutes.  The fridge door clinked, and a moment later, Sam dropped a pile of water bottles near them before settling himself on the floor, his back leaning against the couch behind him.  He cracked open one of the water bottles and took a long drink, then let his head drop back against the couch.  He stretched his legs out, burying them under Bucky’s thighs.  The Soldier just glared at him, but didn’t bother moving, and Sam smirked.

 

“What’s this? Are we having a cuddle party and nobody told me?” Clint demanded, dragging a tolerantly amused Natasha into the room with him.  “Not fair!” he protested.

 

“Oh my god, shut up, Katniss,” Tony told him.  “How about you make yourself useful like Wilson here and get us some food?”

 

Clint laughed as he dropped next to them, pulling Natasha into his lap.  “Sure!  Jarvis, order us the usual post-mission feast, would you?” he asked.

 

“Of course, Agent Barton,” the AI replied politely.  “Expected arrival is thirty-five minutes.”

 

“Thanks, J!  You’re awesome,” Clint complimented him.  Tony forgave him and moved enough to roll one of the water bottles his way.  “Thanks,” Clint said, cracking it open and offering it to Natasha first, before taking a sip of his own.  He rolled slightly to the side so that his shoulder was pressed against Sam’s.  “So...that majorly sucked,” he said at last.

 

Tony snorted.  “You think?” he asked sarcastically.  “The Mark Forty-Seven is _not_ made for underwater battle. If I had know that was going to happen, I would have brought the Rubber Ducky.”

 

There was a long moment of silence as the other Avengers contemplated the words that had just come out of Tony’s mouth.  It was, naturally, Clint who then demanded, “Rubber Ducky?  Do you really have an armor nicknamed _Rubber Ducky_?”  When no answer was forthcoming, he turned to yell over his shoulder, “Does Tony really have a Rubber Ducky armor?”

 

“Stop saying Rubber Ducky, you sound like a two-year-old,” Rhodey told him; but he answered anyway.  “Yes, Tony has an armor he designed solely for underwater combat. He nicknamed it Rubber Ducky.”

 

“I fail to see why this surprises you,” Natasha told Clint, her hands scritching lightly against the blonde’s scalp.  “He has robots he built that he named DUM-E, Butterfingers, and U.  I don’t know why you would expect the armors to be any different.”

 

“I’d resent that if it wasn’t true,” Tony admitted.

  

The eighth member of their little group wandered into the room and observed them all with mild consternation.  “You do realize that there is actual furniture in this room?” he asked.  “Very nice furniture, even.”

 

Tony lifted his head, his extremities finally warming up, thanks to super soldier heat output.  “Well, yeah, but there’s not enough room on the couch for all of us,” he pointed out.  “Which sort of defeats the purpose of a cuddle pile.”  There were various murmurs of agreement from the others, and Phil just sighed quietly and walked over, eyeing the sprawled out Avengers again before shrugging and dropping to the couch, stretching out along its length.  One of his hands reached down and brushed against Clint’s back, a small anchor to the rest of the group.  Clint smiled, turning his head to kiss the inside of Phil’s wrist, while Natasha shifted enough to wrap one hand lightly around the Agent’s ankle.

 

“Excellent,” Tony murmured, noting that only one Avenger was missing.  “Jarvis, where’s Bruce?” he asked, hoping that the other man would decide to join them tonight.  The Hulk had been needed to take down their opponent this time, and that meant that Bruce might not be wanting anybody else’s company now.

 

“Bruce is right here,” he man in question spoke up as he entered, carrying a pile of familiar boxes with him.  “The food arrived on my way up,” he added, dropping the boxes of pizza onto a nearby table before scooping up another bottle of water and dropping down to the floor, close to the rest of the group.  Tony immediately abandoned the two soldiers in favor of rolling over and wrapping his arms around Bruce’s waist.  Bruce looked down at him with a fond, quiet smile, one hand sliding upwards to run through Tony’s hair.  The genius practically purred, making Bruce chuckle.

 

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving,” Sam spoke up, groaning as he climbed to his feet, earning a protest from Clint as his support was suddenly taken away.  “Anybody else?” he offered magnanimously.  He got a chorus of enthusiastic approval and huffed as he started putting pizza on plates and handing them around.

 

Bruce accepted a plate for both himself and Tony, his hand moving from Tony’s hair to the back of his neck and then sliding down his arms to brush along his fingers.  “Still cold?” he asked quietly, concern evident in his tone.

 

“A little,” Tony admitted, not able to lie to his best friend.  It wasn’t like Bruce couldn’t feel how chilly his hands still were.  “It’s a lot better now, though,” he added.  “Steve and Buckaroo helped.”

 

“I’m sure,” Bruce murmured wryly, then looked up with a murmur of thanks at Phil, who had gotten up from the couch to offer them the afghan that sat along the back of it.  Accepting it, Bruce dropped the heavy blanket over Tony and urged him to sit up so he could eat.

 

Tony grumbled at losing his comfortable spot, but sat up, shivering as the cooler air of the room hit him before the blanket settled back around his shoulders.  Silently, Bruce shifted so that he leaned against Tony’s left side, a warm line of heat.  Steve stood to help Sam distribute the pizza, handing out the last couple of pieces before dropping back to the floor, this time behind Tony, his legs on either side of Tony’s hips.

 

Once he was settled, Steve looked at Bucky pointedly. The Soldier rolled his eyes, but scooted over so that he was seated on Tony’s other side.  It was sorely tempting to be a dick and sprawl across Tony’s lap, but since Tony had been hit with the acidic spit while knocking Bucky out of its way, he supposed he could at least loan his body heat to the other man.

 

Tony raised an eyebrow at him, then rolled his eyes, making it clear that he knew exactly what was going on, but he didn’t move from his position leaning tiredly against Bruce’s shoulder.

 

“Oooh!  Are we cuddling Tony now?” Clint asked, as excitable as always.  Natasha simply stood up and moved over, settling herself back down by Tony’s knees.  Tony gave her a tired smile of thanks, then let his eyes drift shut.  He was barely aware of the remaining Avengers moving to curl up around him, a show of solidarity and support.  He was safe and warm and full, surrounded by people that he’d risk his life for, and that would do the same for him.

 

Safe in the middle of the Avengers Cuddle Pile, Tony slept.


End file.
